communities: urban, suburban, rural

We have been learning about different types of communities. Students are recognizing that all communities need certain things for the people who live there (transportation, housing, education, shopping, employment, recreation, health and safety) as well as the need for volunteerism and good citizenship as ways to improve communities.

The Children's Museum came to spend a morning with us. They were focusing on creative thinking, collaboration, and communication as students worked cooperatively to build a community of their own design.

Take a peek at the city planners at work!

A Scientific reason to stop and smell the roses

Students in Room 18 are Botanists! They took time to stop and observe the plants around Breck. This lesson allowed them to use their senses to observe and take note of what they saw, heard, smelled, and felt.
They loved it! 

c.a.r.e. shirts

As part of our C.A.R.E. program, C.A.R.E. t-shirts have been ordered for the entire Lower School. They will be distributed next week! We would like EVERYONE to wear this shirt for our Community Meetings. So, that means on Tuesday, October 11th, we would love to see your child wear his/her shirt to school with pants of his/her choice. (This is a non-uniform day.)

Community Meeting Dates

*Thinking ahead, mark the following dates on your calendar:

Oct. 11th

Nov. 10th

Jan. 4th

Feb. 1st

April 6th

May 3rd

Classroom Community

We are off and running! The first few weeks of second grade have been filled with getting to know one another, learning routines, and setting classroom expectations. What an amazing community we have built and will continue to build!

Take a peek at a few moments we have shared together in Room 18!

Week at a Glance

Below are some announcements and reminders for the upcoming week.

Monday September 26 Day 2	This week we will learn about bus safety. Music, P.E. *Spelling Homework
Tuesday September 27 Day 3	P.E. ½ Spanish *Math and Spelling Homework
Wednesday September 28 Day 4	Chapel, Spanish, Music *Social Studies Homework
Thursday September 29 Day 5	Library, ½ Spanish, P.E. *Math and Spelling Homework
Friday September 30 Day 6	Mr. Ryks will meet with us to discuss bus safety Religion, P.E., Music *Mrs. Strohschein will be teaching all day!

This Week’s Learning Focus:

Reading: Students selected “good fit” books and added them to their book boxes. Some students decided to bring a book home from our classroom library, while others wanted to continue reading books from home. If you child did bring a book home, once he/she is finished with it, please have him/her return it and select a new one. The class will be meeting in guided reading groups to focus on various reading strategies. These will be flexible groups that are always changing based on the needs of the children. As a whole class, we will be reviewing the main components of reading: Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Extend Vocabulary (CAFÉ).

Writing: Authors will be revising the beginning and ending of stories. They will learn that revising means more than adding or changing one word, but it is also adding dialogue and actions to bring characters to life and give more details to create vivid settings.

Spelling: Spelling will look different this week. A note is coming home in your child’s folder explaining the changes. Be on the look out for this note and a new spelling notebook!

Math: This week, lessons will include review and practice of quick facts in addition 0-20. (Use mental math, fact families, number bonds, doubles, and counting on.) How quick can you be? Also adding two-digit numbers and three-digit numbers with base ten blocks. The stretch will be adding into the thousands and beginning to see when to regroup numbers.

History: Students have been working in groups to create communities. This week, they will continue working on this project and learn mapping skills.

Upcoming Reminders:

Skating starts next week on Tuesday, Oct. 4^th! Students need skates, helmets, and snow pants or thick sweatpants to wear over their uniforms. 

Go Mustangs!

We had a great time celebrating Homecoming! 

Week at a Glance

Below are some announcements and reminders for the upcoming week.

Monday September 19 Day 3	*Smile, it’s Picture Day! P.E., ½ Spanish *Spelling Homework
Tuesday September 20 Day 4	Chapel, Spanish, Music *Math and Spelling Homework
Wednesday September 21 Day 5	* Museum-to-Go Class: Community Faces and Places Library, ½ Spanish, P.E. *Science and Spelling Homework
Thursday September 22 Day 6	P.E., Music *Math and Spelling Homework
Friday September 23 Day 1	Art, ½ Spanish

This Week’s Learning Focus:

Reading: We will finish reading assessments this week. Once the students know their independent reading levels, we will review how to select “good fit” books for becoming stronger readers. We will also review decoding strategies to use when we encounter a tricky word. We will talk about finding clues in the pictures, stretching out words to hear all of the sounds, chunking a word to find small words/patterns within it, skipping the word to use context clues and then going back to reread it, and flipping the vowel sounds.

o   At home, please encourage your child to use these strategies when he/she approaches a tricky word. You can ask, “Coaching or Time?” Your child has heard this in class. It allows him/her to decide if he/she wants clues to solve it or if he/she simply needs a bit more time before being coached or told the word.

o   “Good fit” reading books will start coming home next week. If your child enjoys reading books from home, that’s great! They do not have to select a book from the classroom, but they are encouraged to be reading every night.

Writing: We will continue to focus on narrative stories. We will begin to craft powerful endings and reread like detectives to make sure our writing makes sense and sounds right.

Spelling: This will be our last whole class sort. We are learning when to use –ck, -ke, -k at the end of a word. Please continue to do the same weekly activities. Differentiated spelling sorts will begin coming home next week. I will be sending a note home to inform you of the spelling homework changes.

Math: In math, try writing numbers in the hundreds and even thousands. Discuss the place and value of each digit. What if the digits were in a different place? How would the number change? (Would it be greater or lesser?) Also review adding and subtracting facts to twenty. How fast are you? We will be starting "Sprints" and challenging ourselves before adding into the hundreds and possibly thousands. Whew!

History: We have been building our classroom community. We will now be discussing and learning more about what makes up different types of communities. We will look at how communities are busy, complex, and require everyone to work together.

Science: We are learning about BOTANY. It's a great word to look up in the dictionary and discuss as a family. Also be observant scientists. Do you notice flowers in the neighborhood, in the fields, etc. What do they look like? How many parts can you name? Are there any creatures nearby? Talk about the beauty and the importance of flowers.

o      *** For homework on Wednesday, observe flowers or a garden in your neighborhood. Sketch your favorite flowers and write a few sentences about what you noticed.